Non-skid attachment for automobiles.



C. E. HEWSTON AND H. G. HAMILTON.

NON-SKID ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

I APPLICATION FILED JULY 9, l9l7- I I 1,326,343., Patented Dec. 30,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

lure nzors.

C. E. HEWSTON AND H. G HAMILTON.

NON-SKID ATTACHMENT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION mg!) JULY 9. 1917.

1 326,343.. ate11ted Dec. 30, 1919.

2 SHEETS-"SHEET 2.

32 32 315 3 E a 34 a; 36 3 34 3 I 33 I :34 .J pr 3; 9 4

AT f s ra rnn'r non'r sxin nrraonmnnr. ronnuromonrnns.

To all whom c't may concern.-

Be it known that we, CHARLEs E. Haws TON and HERBERT G. HAMnfioN, citizens of the United States, residing in the city of.

Portland, county of Multnomah, and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Non-Skid Attachments for, Automobiles, of which the following is a specificatio Our invention relates to 'non-skidattachments for automobiles, and more particularly to a device adapted to be attached to the rear axle casing and chassisof an automobile, whereby it can, betripped and droppeddown between the rear Wheelsof theautomobile so that its shoes will engage the surface in such a mannenlas'to absolutely prevent skidding of the car and to immediatelystop any skidding movement thereof in either direction, as well as to act a a most efi'ective emergency brake.

Amongthe salient objects ,of our; 'iinven- '-77, 1n said wing-like members 66, as

tion are,

To provide a device of the character referred to which can be controlled by the driver, both in tripping the device to allow it to drop down into operating position, and

rear wheels of an automobile, clear of the ground, or pavement, when in operation,

thus adapting it also for use as a jack; and,

in general, to provide a device of the charac- ,35 ter referred to which will be practical, strong and effective, and which can be readily adapted to automobiles of difierent makes.

, scribe.

In order tojmore fully explain our invention, we have illustrated one practical 40 embodiment thereof in thefiaccompanying sheet of drawings, which we will now-de- Figure 1 is a fragmentary, longitudinal, sectional view of an automobile chassis, showing-our invention attached thereto, said view being taken on the position 1-1 of Fig. 2 is a fragmentary, detail view show.-

ingthe holding shoe about to engage the surface;

Fig. 3 1s a cross sectional vlewof an automobile ChaSSISlOOkIIlg rearwardly wlth our \I i I device raised;

Fig. 4 a rear view showing our device m" perat ve posltlon;

Specification'of Letters Patent. Padggnflggd Days, 36]), 19119; Application filed July 9, 1917. Serial 1V0. 179,411.

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing certain operating mechanisms for holding the device in its raised or inoperative position;

Fig 6 is an enlarged, sectional view through the rear axle housing showing one of the attaching brackets for the device; and

Fig. 7 is a view thereof looking at the -right'hand side of Fig. 6, and showing a lock therefor.

Referring now'more in detail to the drawings, 1 designates the channel iron frame members of an automobile chassis, 2 the rear axle, 3 the rear axle housing, and t l: the rear wheels.

Clamped around the rear axle housing adjacent each ofthe rear wheels is aclamp bracket 5. Formed as a part of each is a pair of spaced winglike members 66, having therein curved slots 7-7. Pivotally connected at its opposite ends to said wing like members is a drop'frame 8,- said drop frame being pivoted, as at 9-9, in the slots Fig. 1, which bear outwardly against the inner faces of the/upper arms of said bell cranks. 1

Pivotally mounted at the lower ends of the opposite sides of the drop frame 8 are non-skid shoes, or runners, 12, which have slightly concaved bottoms, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. Formed integrally with the outer lower corners of the drop frame 8, and proecting downwardly on the inner sides of the shoes, or runners, 12' 12, are prong-like. members 1313, which first engage the surface as the drop frame 8 is let down, as

, will be clear from Fig. 2, the point 13 instantly checking any skidding or forward movement of the car. end of each of said shoes," or runners, 12, is a rod 14,"which' extends'forwardly and up-' wardly through a sleeve 15, pivotally' secured to a'hanging bracket 16, on the under side of the frame member 1, as clearly shown in 1. A coiled spring 17 Attached to the front desired, to throw it downwardly when a on the upper end thereof. a

. y'Wewill next describe means of which the drop frame 8 and the ends of the latc ating rods 35-35, connected.

site ends to a three-armed bell crank 36, as

mounted .on the upper end of each of said rods 14 between the sleeve 15 and a nut 18,

the mechanism .by

non-skid shoes 12 are raised ,into an inoperative position. Pivotally connected to the:

middle portion of the drop frame, as at 19, a

is a-toggle 20, the upper part'of which is bow-shaped and pivot'ally secured,'as at 21, to the under side of the-frame v1, as shown in Fig. 1; An operating rod, or link, 22, 18

connected at its rear end, as at 23, to the joint of said two-part lever 20, and at its forward end said rod 22 is connected to the lower ehd of an o crating lever 24, by means of a link 22% wliereby the lower end of said operating lever 24. can have a .move ment 'relative to said rod 22, Saidbpcrating lever is provided at its elpper end with a hand grip and trip lever, as

" 'at' 24, and is adapted to be held in differentadjusted positions bymeans of an arch member 25, provided with holding notches 25 -Thus it will be seen thatwhen said hand lever .24 is drawn backwardly from its forward position, as shown in full lines,-to its rearward position, shown in dotted lines,

3 it operate's to, swing the drop frame, 8, and

the non-skid shoes 1'212, up into the positions indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 1, the

'rods 14 sliding through they sleeves 15 to v the position" i-ndicated in dotted lines. A

springprong 26 may be used to-bear against the drop frame 8, as shown in- Fig. .1, if

tripped. Thisf'sprin'g may be secured at its upper end to'the clamp bracket 5, .or to the,

rear axle casing;

- Mounted across 'on theunder. side of the body frame l, isa channel ironv27,'. to the middle "of. which is secured a supporting plate 28. Pivotal ly secured to said support ing plate28, is an'arched channel iron 29,.

adapted to: have afi-slight rocking movement on its pivot connection to Jsaid supporting plate 28. The channel iron .27; and the arched channel iron" 29, are: connected by means of two '30 30, with. coiled sprlngs 31-31, thereon between said channel irons, and with coiledsp'rings 32 32 thereon 7 below the arched channel iron. 29, as clearly I n .whenthey areiraised, as shown in Fig, 3.

- provided attheir "lower. ends} with vhooks Two latch d0gs ;,34-34 are pivotally mount; ed. in'sald lioldmg members 33 33, and are 34' 34,- adapted to. be moved inwardly and to have supporting engagement -with the non-skid shoes" 12 12, which are pro-- vided with hook-recei ing h 1 a bell crang messes as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,and into which the hooks ,34 .34' of the latch dogs 34-34 catch when said non-skid shoes are raised, as shown in Fi 3. Connected to the 'uper dogs 34-34, are two-operat their oppoclearly shown in Fig. 5,one arm of which bell crank 36, is connected by'mean's of an operating rod'37, to a foot lever 38, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1, whereby when said foo lever'38 is pressed said bell crank 36- is roc ed in such a manneras to draw the upper endsof the latches 34+34 inwardly and release the non-skid. shoes "12-42, whereupon the drop frame 8, and said nonskid shoes 1212, are dropped downwardly into operatin osition, as shown &n Fig. 1.

Before sa'i drop frame 8 and said nonskid shoes 1-2'can be a ain drawn up into their raised positions, t e bell'crankv levers 1010,thelower ends of which bear against the pivot bolts 9 9, in'the'upperfends of the drop frame 8, must be swung so as to clear sa1d plvot bolts 99, injorder for them to members 6-6. .In order to accomplish this,

operating rods, as 39, are connected to said move upwardly in the slots 7 -7, ,i n thewing i zin bar 40, Fig. 1, which equalizing bar 40 i connected by means of an operating rod 41, to the hand lever 24, bymeans of a loop, orlink 41. Thus before said operating lever 24,'is drawn rearwardly'to raise the" drop framef8, it is moved forwardly slightly so as to pull the rod 41, and throu h its connecti ons','move thelower, ends of t e gagemen at their lower ends with the pivot pins 9 -9. This movement allows the upper levers 10'1 0, "outof holding eni ends ofthe'drop' frame 8 .to move upwardly in the slots, 77,' under the weight of-the" car, which has been slightly lifted, as will be evldent from Fig. 4, whereupon, when said lever 24 is pulled backwardly to thedotted' lineposition shown-in Fig. 1, it will draw the drop. frame 8, and the non-skidshoes 12-42,

up into their vraised posit'ion, where they will be held -by. the latch hooks 34"3,4=, which engage said non-skid shoes'12'in the manner hereinbefore described.

'It'is" tobe understood that the drop 8 swings downwardly while the car is movmg forwardly, whereupon the rear end of frame the car is slightly raised so that the rear wheels clear the surface, as indicated in Fig. I

4-. Therigidprongs 13 13. firstenga'ge the surface,as in Fig. 2, after which the shoes 12-12, take. the load asin Figs. 1 and. 4.

Referring: to Fig. ,..we have indicated a locking device 1n one endbf the drop frame 8, adapted for locking the frame in itsdown position, when desired. A lock bolt 42,

3 indicated inv dott d lines, which may be opeeegaae erated by any suitable key inserted in a key hole 43, said bolt, when in locked position, as shown in dotted lines, extends into the wing members 6, in the manner indicated. When said bolt 42 is Withdrawn from the wing member 6, said drop frame 8, can be raised in the manner herein'before described.

Thus it will 'be seen that we haveprovided a very effective combination non-skid device and emergency brake mechanism which is designed to stop and prev'entskiddin'g'inovement, and also to operate to stop the machine as a brake when released and dropped into operating position, for. the whole weight of the rear end of the machine is raised up on to prongs 18-43 and the shoes 12. a

embodiment of our invention, we do not limit it to the details here shown, except as .we may be limited by the hereto appended claims.

We claim:

1. In combination with an automobile, a drop frame adjustably and pivotally connected at its upper end to the rear axle housing of said automobile, means for holding said pivoted upperend in its operative position, means for limiting the rearward 3 0 movement of saididrop frame, when down,

c non-skid shoe adapted to successively engage the surfacev as said drop frame is lowered, and means for holding said drop frame in its adjusted positions, substantially as described, V

3. In combination with an automobile, a

drop frame'pivotally and adjustably con nected at its upper end to the rear axle casing, means for holding said upper end in an operating position, the lower end'of said drop eframe being provided with a prong and a non-skid shoe adapted to suc cessively engage the surface. as said drop allow it to drop into'its down or operating position, substantially as described.

d. lln a device of the character referred to,

same, a latch mechanism for holding the same in raised position, means for tripping said latch mechanism, whereby to allow said drop frame to drop, and a lock for locking the same in its down as described.

v a pivoted drop frame, means for raising the "While we have illustrated one practical position, substantially I,

5. In combination with an automobile, a

drop frame pivotally and adjustabl, coni'ng, means for holding the upper end of said drop frame against movement relative to:

said axle, the lowerend of said drop frame being adapted to [engage the surface when dropped during the forward movement of nected at its upper end to the rear ax e cassaid automobile, whereby to lift the rear end of said automobile, means for. limiting the rearward movement of said drop frame, and means for releasing the upper'end of said drop frame. whereby to let the-rear end of said automobile down, substantially as described.

Signed at Portland, Multnomah county, Uregon, this 3rd day of July, 1917.

CHARLES E. HEWSTON;

HERBERT G. HAMILTON, In presence of l. M. GRIFFIN, W. R. ,llirrznnnnno. y 

